Mental health needs

IN a written reply to a series of questions posed by parliamentarians, the National Health Services minister informed the National Assembly on Wednesday that there were no federal government-run dedicated mental health hospitals or institutes in the country. Between Pims, Polyclinic, Federal General Hospital and the National Institute of Rehabilitation, only Pims has a functional psychiatry department. The number of mental health patients registered at Pims is staggering: about 39,000 in 2017. This figure accounts only for those able to access such services at one facility in the federal capital. So when the minister states that the prevalence........